The magical monals of Mishmi—a week’s birding in eastern Arunachal: 18–25 November 20071

Bikram Grewal

Grewal, B. 2009. The magical monals of Mishmi—a week’s birding in eastern Arunachal: 18–25 November 2007. Indian Birds 5 (3): 62–64. Bikram Gewal, B 197 Sheikh Sarai–1, New Delhi 110017, India. Email: [email protected]

ur collective curiosities about the Mishmi Hills were first spent the one-hour journey eating our packed lunch and scanning aroused when we learned that Julian Donahue and Ben the river, which was speckled with Brahminy Shelducks Tadorna King had ‘re-found’ the enigmatic Rusty-throated Wren- ferruginea. A lone Osprey Pandion haliaetus flew in the distance. OBabbler Spelaeornis badeigularis, now re-christened, Mishmi Wren- We drove on to the small town of Roing, the district Babbler, in 2004. This bird was known to the world from only a headquarters of the Lower Dibang Valley, once the entry point single skin of a female that landed in the mist-nets of Drs Sálim to the erstwhile North East Frontier Agency, popularly known as Ali and Dillon Ripley during their survey of the area in the late NEFA. We topped up our supplies that included meat on the hoof, forties. It lay hidden from the ornithologists’ eyes till the venerable live chickens and, most important of all, fuel for the cars. This was duo lured it by playing the tape of similar species and managed to be our last outpost before we entered the true Mishmi Hills. to not only photograph, but also record its song. We scoured the Essentials would now onwards become scant and cell phones Internet in the hope of getting more information, but other than would (mercifully) be dead. Fortified with enough food, drink and establishing that it was supposed to be locally common, little was such necessities, we moved on, bypassing the broken bridge on the available. Ben King’s reports were brief, but full of allusions about Itapani River, to finally reach the grand-sounding ‘Dibang Valley the birdlife of this little-visited area. We managed to make contact Jungle Camp’. This rustic camp consisted of a typical Mishmi with Julian, who was more than helpful and gave us maps, details ‘long-house’ built on stilts. Charmingly located, overlooking the of routes, and most importantly, names of places where we could Lohit and Dibang River systems, it sat in a forest clearing, now stay. To him our grateful thanks. Another celebrated birder, James planted with nascent orange trees. Adequate would be a good Eaton, visited the Mishmi Hills, but did not complete a trip report, term to describe the resort, though it must be said we were the limiting himself to listing the birds seen. The list made tantalizing first occupants, and plans for improvement are underway. Sitting reading and was full of birds like Purple Cochoa purpurea and Green in the covered portico, we could see Common Buzzards Buteo C. viridis Cochoa, Violet Chrysococcyx xanthorhynchus and Asian buteo and a Crested Goshawk Accipiter trivirgatus fly over the river Emerald C. maculatus Cuckoos, not to mention Satyr Tragopan basin, and a Common Kestrel Falco tinnunculus perched on a wire Tragopan satyra and Blood Pheasant Ithaginis cruentus. Names like near the camp. A pair of Grey Bushchats S. ferrea flickered in the Gould’s Shortwing Brachypteryx stellata, White-hooded Babbler shrubs. All of this boded of good birding, and after having had the Gampsorhynchus rufulus, Pale-headed Woodpecker Gecinulus first of many excellent meals, prepared by our camp cook, Jibon, grantia and Purple Wood-Pigeons Columba punicea dotted the lists we retired to await a 0330 hrs wake-up call. We rose to the call of and made mere mortals like us toss in our sleep. hoolock gibbons Hoolock leuconedys and shivered in anticipation Armed with what little knowledge we had, but with a high (and the cold!) of what lay ahead of us in this mystic land. sense of anticipation, we contacted Help Tourism with a request First-time travellers to north-eastern India will marvel at how to organise a trip to the Mishmi Hills. To their eternal credit, the early the sun rises and how soon it sets. It is always sensible to be intrepid Asit Biswas and Raj Basu undertook two recce trips before out in the field thirty minutes before sunrise to take advantage of proposing that we travel on the sensible road, i.e., to Hunli, via the day’s best birding hours. So it proved on our first day of serious Roing and the Mayodia Pass. And so one sunny morning we birdwatching in these fabled hills. It is best to point out at this arrived in Dibrugarh, in eastern Assam, the north-eastern-most stage that most of our birding, on this trip, took place on the main airport in India. We met up with Raj and the support team and road to Hunli, and beyond, and this was because the habitat was proceeded straight to Saikhowa Ghat, where we had to ferry our so pristine and dense, with no paths leading into the woods, and two jeeps across the Lohit River. The journey took us through with the forest-edges and scrub limited. The birds were truly shy, splendid tea gardens with familiar names and we spent some and this we attributed to the many small-bore guns in evidence, pleasurable time seeing the affinisrace of the Indian Roller Coracias and the fact that almost every Mishmi tribal carried a slingshot. benghalensis, while the dark race of the Common Stonechat Saxicola We saw several birds, particularly of the laughingthrush family, torquatus stejnegeri had us temporarily foxed. but due to the heavy foliage, and their skittish behavior, we could The crossing was one the most perilous that any of us had ever not identify them all with any certainty. Bird densities were low, undertaken and included the transfer of our vehicles, with the help the species less varied and hunting parties smaller than the ones in of two thin planks, onto two country boats joined together to form a northern West Bengal and Sikkim. Similarly, the warblers were few primitive raft. Having successfully managed this arduous task, we and far between, with Yellow-browed Leaf-Warbler Phylloscopus inornatus being the commonest. Others, over the days, included 1 [Editors’ Note: A slightly modified version of this article was earlier published on http://www.kolkatabirds.com/mishmi/mishmi_tripreport.htm. We are a few Grey-cheeked Flycatcher-Warblers Seicercus poliogenys, grateful to the author as well as the owners of the website for permitting us to Orange-barred Leaf-Warbler P. pulcher, Grey-faced Leaf-Warbler use this article.] P. maculipennis, and a single Blyth’s Leaf-Warbler P. reguloides.

62 Indian Birds Vol. 5 No. 3 (Publ. 1st August 2009) Grewal: Mishmi Hills

This not withstanding, we soon had the first of our many lifers chestnut banding on the tail, could possibly be an intermediate of the trip. These included Long-tailed Heterophasia picaoides and variety between the nominate race and the white-tailed one. We Beautiful H. pulchella Sibia, and White-throated Bulbuls Alophoixus await expert advice. flaveolus. Grey-backed Shrikes Lanius tephronotus were common Chuffed by our success we continued birding down the and Short-billed Minivets Pericrocotus brevirostris made a brief road, but that day was to prove the leanest, with only few birds appearance. A pair of Large-billed Blue-Flycatchers Cyornis seen. This surprised us no end, for the habitat was verdant with banyumas surprised us all, and due to their rarity in India, we little disturbance, but the only birds of any note where Red- marked them as only a possibility till experts later confirmed from headed Garrulax erythrocephalus and Black-faced Garrulax affinis our photographs. Pleased with our brilliant start, we returned to Laughingthrushes. The commonest birds were Rufous-vented the long-house, packed our jeeps and started the slow climb to Yuhinas Yuhina occipitalis, which seemed to thrive at this point. Mayodia Pass, which was to be our next halt. En route, we played Another cold night followed, and next morning we packed our the tape of the Mishmi Wren-Babbler at the different points given bags ands started a leisurely drive down to Hunli, seeing four to us by Julian. We elicited no less than seven responses, but species of yuhinas and two of fulvettas. A Bar-throated Minla Minla the bird never showed itself. However Yellow-throated Alcippe strigula and Mrs Gould’s Sunbird Aethopyga gouldiae showed well. cinerea and Streak-throated Fulvettas A. cinereiceps, Sultan Tits A fast-flying Chestnut Thrush Turdus rubrocanus was an added Melanochlora sultanea, Streak-throated Barwings Actinodura waldeni, attraction and as usual the Black-throated Sunbirds A. saturata Streaked Spiderhunter Arachnothera magna and Dark-throated were the dominant nectar-feeders. A pair of Himalayan Griffons Rosefinch Carpodacus nipalensis kept us occupied. Perhaps the most Gyps himalayensis rode the thermals. The other raptors seen here interesting bird on this stretch was the very ‘tit’ like White-bellied were a displaying of Eurasian Sparrowhawks Accipiter nisus and “Yuhina” Yuhina zantholeuca, which now rejoices under the new a few Black Eagles Ictinaetus malayensis. A possible sighting of a name of White-bellied Erpornis Erpornis zantholeuca bestowed Vivid Niltava Niltava vivida caused momentary excitement, but upon it by Pam Rasmussen. A few Striated Bulbuls Pycnonotus sadly we could not confirm if it indeed was one or some other striatus also turned up on the road. By far the most gregarious similar flycatcher. bird in all our days in the hills was the Black Bulbul Hypsipetes Hunli is a small town with a pleasant circuit house where we leucocephalus of the nigrescens race. Flocks containing up to a few were booked. But the local village headmen (Gaon Buras) decided hundred birds were not uncommon, and seen several times a to hold an unscheduled meeting there and occupied our rooms. day. A pair of yellow-throated martens Martes flavigula appeared With some persuasion we managed to retrieve two rooms and suddenly and then disappeared with equal alacrity. spent two comfortable nights in this not-so-cold town. Birding A quick lunch on a bridge added the two ubiquitous redstarts— in the garden produced a flock of Common Green Magpies the White-capped Chaimarrornis leucocephalus and the Plumbeous Cissa chinensis and a Brown-Flanked Bush-Warbler Cettia fortipes. Rhyacornis fuliginosus, while the Blue-fronted Phoenicurus frontalis The evening was spent in trying to use the only phone in town, remained the commonest redstart of the trip. By mid-afternoon curiously based in the local liquor shop. we had reached Mayodia where our accommodation consisted The local authorities had warned us that we should not venture of a so-called ‘coffee-house’. It was actually a rest house with beyond Hunli as warring factions of the Idu Mishmi tribes had basic amenities, but there’s an interesting story why it’s called a caused tension in the area. We were glad that we disregarded this ‘coffee-house’. It seems the local government did not have funds advice -- for the next 20 kms proved to be the best birding of the trip. for a full-fledged rest house but had some money under the head As we drove towards the Ithun River bridge, we were greeted by ‘coffee-house’. So they built this structure and labeled it so. It’s a Slaty-backed Enicurus schistaceus and Black-backed E. immaculatus different matter no one asked why a ‘coffee-house’ should be built Forktails at every turn. A single Kaleej Pheasant Lophura leucomelanos in such a remote place where permanent population comprised hesitantly crossed the road. We stopped to observe some unfamiliar just the chowkidar and his wife. Anyway, we were grateful to looking White-crested Laughingthrushes G. leucolophus and chanced these far-sighted accountants, for it bestowed upon us a roof in upon a very obliging Coral-billed Scimitar-Babbler Pomatorhinus this very cold and wind-blown pass. We spent the rest of the day ferruginosus, while the next tree produced a pair of Red-headed birding locally, looking unsuccessfully for parrotbills (Panurinae) Trogons Harpactes erythrocephalus. We were rather surprised by the in the extensive bamboo brakes. Though Common Hill-Partridges complete lack of woodpeckers, the only one hitherto seen was a Arborophila torqueola called regularly, much to our disappointment, lone Rufous Celeus brachyurus in the relative lowlands, and we were we did not see any. A Mountain Hawk-Eagle Spizaetus nipalensis and a pair of displaying Eurasian Sparrowhawks Accipiter nisus provided small compensation. Leaving before dawn we had just crossed the pass when Sumit Sen, who had left his spectacles behind, exclaimed that he saw a flash of a white-tailed bird hurtle down the valley. As we stopped to search for this bird, Bill Harvey stated that there was a deer with a white tail on the road. It was only when we lifted our binoculars did it dawn on us that there was not one but two magnificent

Sclater’s Monals Lophophorus sclateri. We had great views of these Photo: Ramki Sreenivasan spectacular giants, even if they were over 200 m across the valley. They are so seldom seen that almost no photographs exist of them in the wild. Little is known about them other than they are high- altitude birds and Mayodia pass is perhaps the lowest point where you can see them in this area. In 1998, the veteran birder Pratap Singh and R. Suresh Kumar had discovered a new subspecies of Sclater’s Monal in western Arunachal. It had an all-white tail and The NE race of this widely distributed Himalayan pheasant has a black crest and belly and a white rump. Photographed this male Kaleej Pheasant Lophura was subsequently named arunachalensis. Our birds, with extensive leucomelanos crossing the road late one evening in Mishmi Hills.

Indian Birds Vol. 5 No. 3 (Publ. 1st August 2009) 63 Grewal: Mishmi Hills relieved to see a pair of Large Yellow-naped Woodpeckers Picus The banks of the Dibru River held Little Ringed Charadrius dubius flavinucha high in the canopy, which also produced the lone Blue- and Lesser Sand Plovers C. mongolus, besides several Temminck’s eared Barbet Megalaima australis of the trip. Great Barbets M. virens, Stints Calidris temminckii. The sudden appearance of a Ganges River though, were plentiful and were seen and heard all the time. dolphin Platanista gangetica was a perfect end. At the river a fine male Hodgson’s Redstart Phoenicurus Promising to be back soon, we proceed to Dibrugarh, where we hodgsoni and a Brown Dipper Cinclus pallasii added to the day’s stayed at the luxurious, colonial and enchanting Mancotta Chang tally. Himalayan Swiftlets Collocalia brevirostris flew overhead and Bungalow run by the charming Manoj and Vineeta Jalan, who just as we were getting into our cars, a fly-past of eleven Wreathed served us a most delicious meal that night. This bungalow, built Hornbills Aceros undulatus completed our joy. on stilts, used to be the residence of the manager of the tea garden; Next morning we returned to this magical strip to add Grey- the Jalans have restored it to its original colonial glory and run it throated Stachyris nigriceps and Gold-headed S. chrysaea Babbler. as a hotel. If you ever happen to be in this part of the world, don’t Several Red-tailed Minlas Minla ignotincta and a single Red-faced miss it. After days of roughing out in the wilds, we had a terrific Liochicla Liocichla phoenicea were seen well. Long-tailed Broadbills sleep to the call of Spotted Owlets Athene brama. Psarisomus dalhousiae were always a pleasure to watch and Grey- Early next morning saw us at the nearby Jokai forest and, in the bellied Tesia Tesia cyaniventer a much-prized catch. A fruiting tree few hours that we spent there, we found several Small Niltavas N. produced a clutch of Golden-throated Barbets M. franklinii that macgrigoriae, Common Ioras Aegithina tiphia, a pair of Little Pied afforded us a long and leisurely occasion to photograph them. Other Flycatchers Ficedula westermanni, Black-winged Coracina melaschistos birds seen on this stretch were Grey-sided Laughingthrushes G. and Large C. macei Cuckoo-Shrikes and numerous Pompadour caerulatus and over-flying Barred Cuckoo-Doves Macropygia unchall. Green-Pigeons Treron pompadora. An Emerald Dove Chalcophaps A solitary Fairy Bluebird Irena puella flitted through the trees but indica walked nonchalantly on the path. The birds here are obviously Orange-bellied Leafbirds Chloropsis hardwickii were common and well protected and were not shy at all. A visit to the Jokai forests is seen often. well recommended. The next morning we started our long drive back to Roing, All in all it was a great trip to a largely unknown and replaying the wren-babbler tape at every suitable site. In the end, understudied area. Though we did not see many of the species just as were about to give up, a single bird responded to the tape mentioned by King and Eaton, we still managed to spot many recording and Bill Harvey was fortunate enough to see it, while beauties such as Golden-headed Babbler, Rufous-bellied Shrike- the rest of us had to be content with a few Black-faced Flycatcher- Babbler Pteruthius rufiventer, Streak-throated Fulvetta and the two Warblers Abroscopus schisticeps. It might be prudent to point out species of Barwings. The star, of course, was the Sclater’s Monal that while birding in the Mishmi Hills, keep a sharp lookout for a followed by the Large-billed Blue-Flycatcher. In hindsight, perhaps strange animal called the ‘mithun’. A semi-domesticated bovine, it we should have kept a few more days in hand, including some for is a cross between a gaur Bos gaurus and domestic cattle. The more the enigmatic Dibru-Saikowa. mithuns a Mishmi owns, the higher his status. It is used as bride- As we proceeded home, the words of Frank Kingdon-Ward price and often, for barter. They are let loose to graze and can turn rang in my mind, “Behind the mountain lies the garden of God.” up at an awkward moment! In the evening Mr Dhature Meuli, owner of several mithuns and a local politician-cum-businessman, arrived at the resort Itinerary: 18–25 November 2007 accompanied by his charming wife, Seppa, and a horde of relatives, servants, and children, and proceeded to cook a traditional Mishmi Day 1: Arrive Dibrugarh Airport, Assam from Kolkata and proceed meal for us. This feast, consisting of several dishes, went on for by road to Sikhowa Ghat on the banks of the Lohit River. 2 hour many hours and was accompanied by the local rice brew that kept ferry crossing at Saikhowa Ghat and then by road to Roing, Lower us happy but also a bit fuzzy the next morning. Dibang Valley, Arunachal Pradesh. Overnight at ‘Dibang Valley Birding around the camp produced several Pygmy Wren- Jungle Camp’. Babblers, both, the Lesser Racket-tailed Dicrurus remifer and Greater Day 2: A.M. Birding around ‘Dibang Valley Jungle Camp’ thereafter Racket-tailed D. paradiseus Drongos, and much to our delight, we proceeding by road to Mayodia Pass with birding on the way. managed to trace a noisy White-browed Piculet as well as its cousin Arrive Mayodia Pass area in the afternoon and overnight at ‘Coffee- the Speckled. A pair of hoolock gibbons hooting in the canopy House’, Mayodia. rounded off a great morning—they are India’s only ape, restricted Day 3: Full day birding around Mayodia Pass. Overnight at ‘Coffee- to the north-east, and are highly endangered. House’, Mayodia. Bidding adieu to the Mishmi Hills we crossed the Lohit again, and on this occasion saw some Black Storks Ciconia nigra, a White- Day 4: Drive to Hunli with birding stops on the way. Afternoon rumped Vulture G. bengalensis, a pair of Great Created Grebes drive to Itapani River area. Overnight at Hunli Circuit House. Podiceps cristatus, and few Pallas’s Gulls Larus ichthyaetus on the Day 5: A.M. Birding around Itapani River and afternoon birding river. A pair of Mallards Anas platyrhynchos sat on a far away island, around Hunli. Overnight at Hunli Circuit House. as did a few Gadwalls A. strepera. Day 6: Drive to Roing with birding stops on the way. Evening arrival We had planned to make a very short visit to the Dibru-Saikowa at Roing. Overnight at ‘Dibang Valley Jungle Camp’. National Park, near Tinsukia, but our ferry got stuck in the receding river and by the time we extricated ourselves and reached Benu’s Day 7: A.M. Birding around ‘Dibang Valley Jungle Camp’ thereafter departure for Dibrugarh. Afternoon boat ride at Dibru- Camp at Guijan, it was almost dark. A quick boat-ride in the setting Saikhowanational Park. Overnight at ‘Mancotta Chang Bungalow’, sun and the rising moon produced an Indian Short-toed Lark Dibrugarh. Calandrella raytal, and some fast flying ducks. Some felt a flock of Tufted Pochards Aythya fuligula could have contained a few Baer’s Day 8: A.M. Birding at Jokai Forest, Dibrugarh. Mid-day flight Pochards Aythya baeri, but we could not confirm this with any back to base. certainty. Ducks seen included Common Teal A. crecca, Northern – Sumit Sen Pintail A. acuta and a few Ferruginous Pochards Aythya nyroca.

64 Indian Birds Vol. 5 No. 3 (Publ. 1st August 2009)